Jumping the Pond

April Fool's Day - hey yeah! let's go to the good ole U S of A!
J and I had already driven up to Runcorn to stay with M & S (hmmm! ....) S & M I mean.
(even bigger HMMMM!) Ok ok - the Hs. We stayed there overnight so we wouldn't have too early a start on wednesday morning to get to Manchester Airport.
We safely dropped Js car at the shuttle park and we were soon in arrivals joining the long queue to get thro' checking-in and going thro' security checks.
"Did you pack your own case?"
"No i asked a chap in funny headgear with a distinctly afghan accent brandishing an AK-47 and 3lbs of semtex explosives if he wouldn't mind doing the honours."
FFS! What a fucking stupid question. It demands a damn stupid answer but these people do NOT have a sense of humour.
So U S AIR
We don't care!... well actually, they were great. The stewards/esses were jolly without being unctious. The food was tasty. Quite a feat considering the loss of tastebuds whilst flying in a tube 40k above the planet.

interior of an airbus A330

As you see films are watched via the screen attached to the back of the seat in front. Not such a new idea but it is to me as i've not done long haul since the very early 90s.
This allows viewing of films, documentaries, shows. Or, listening to music.
I opted to watch MAX PAYNE (mark wahlberg) and THE DARK KNIGHT (christian bale and heath ledger). I preferred the latter but by god it's lonnng!
Soon we were winging our way into Philadelphia on time. Good bloody job.
We found ourselves in a lonnng queue to go thro... yes you've guessed it... fucking security.
Now let's think this thro - we've been on a flight with no access to anything else. We were checked at Mcr by US security. When on earth were we gonna acquire another 3lbs of semtex? or a couple of AK-47s? or whatever it is the scares the beejeebus outta these americans.
Oh silly me - the british invented Dr Who and the TARDIS. DOH! that must be it.
:::::::::::::sigh:::::::
So - whilst we queued for ever and a day we almost didn't make our connection from Philly to Chicago. If we'd be any less fit/slower then i'm not sure if we would've made it.
Marks DOWN for Philly security.

Woosh! an easy flight to O'Hare and we landed in one piece.
Everything was so simple there.
Never mind the break down.
And F had cooked us a wonderful turkey roast as a welcome to Illinois/USA/her home etc.
We were landed.
The next day, K, J and I(me) eL'd into downtown Chicago.
The experience had begun.
The architecture of Chicago is experiemntal and it works brilliantly. The old mixes in with the new. In that it reminds me a little of Paris

the Silver Bean (Millenium Park, Chicago)

How cool is that? you can go underneath and look up which makes for a great photo as well.
The food we tried was wonderful. K got us in to margaritas as well. OMG! Helloo america!

The next day our trip included F who took us to the John Hancock building (below)
This is home to the highest obsevation deck in the city despite the Sear's Tower being the daddy of the high rise in Chicago.

John Hancock building, Chicago

The next day was breakfast - american style. This was in Andersonville at Ann Sathers. Andersonville has strong connections with Sweden and is home to a slightly bohemian community. It had a good feel about it.

street furniture ANDERSONVILLE style

_____________________________________________
Welcome to WASHINGTON DC

We arrived by use of UNITED for a change. And it was a roomier flight which was nice.
A shuttle van took us to the hotel RED ROOF INN in Chinatown. It was great ebing able to see so many famous sights. noteably all the monuments that DC has.
Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial.......!

F had told us of a place that she and D had stayed in when they'd been in DC for the inauguration in january. Gordon Biersch. A brewery in it's own right with good food and plenty of teles to watch whoever was playing whichever sport that evening.
Space was at a premium when we entered but we made ourselves comfortable at the bar whilst waiting for a table to come free. I sampled the in-house beer whilst J and K reverted to margarita-ville ;0)
In the event that anyone stick their head on this and so happens to be visiting DC then GB is opposite the International Spy Museum! yup! I kid you not. Only in Washington DC!. That ain't a complaint either. It just amuses me.

Our one full day in the US capital had us board a double decker bus to tour the capital with a view that we should be able to hop on-hop off whenever we wished. Less said about that advertising the better!

Jefferson Memorial with Washington Monument in the background

Lincoln Memorial
big memorial for a big man

The Washington Memorial
- looking from the Lincoln and the scene of FORREST GUMP fame -

We took our chance on our final morning to visit Arlington Cemetary. The acreage is huge so we only had a chance to cover a fairly small percentage of the ground
Below, is the eternal flame that marks the JFK memorial

The Lockerbie tragedy ( as it's known in the UK) is also marked here. They brought over stones from Scotland for the memorial.

________________________________________________________
PENNSYLVANIA

Now was the time to chill a bit more. This was almost home-from-home. Chester Hills will carry a different set of happy memories in all our hearts.
we visted places but here was no rush. We ate american food and drank american drinks and enjoyed american hospitality at it's best.
Thanks to all the various members of the HOCKING family

In Amish areas they are quite apparent as they go about their daily business and everyone respects each others wishes whatever one's beliefs

Chevrolet CORVETTE 5.7L
American musclecar

What a great sound. And the roads around there would suit my wee 5 (Miata as they call them over there)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I have left out great chunks but it will trigger enough fond memories for me.
Despite having a cold I had a wonderful time.

Cometh the hour...

The below photographs are courtesy of the BBCs
live feed as the inauguration ceremoney was taking place
-unless otherwise stipulated-



Barack Hussein Obama taking office as the 44th President of the United States of America

a couple of people turned out to cheer on the chap

michelle obama watches on proudly flanked by
bill and hillary
and george bush sr

the crowd enjoying the occasion in front of the Capitol building

backed by michelle this is the man behind the flag

and at the forefront of the nation with a mountain to climb

The expectations of the world, little exaggeration, are upon this man's shoulders.
I have never been bothered by the presidential elections and even less by the
inauguration ceremony but this was an unmissable event.
It wasn't even so much that he is black, tho it's significance can not be dismissed, but that
he just carries himself in a way that gives a confidence and demands a confidence.
I actually listened to his speech.
For someone with a relatively low attention span and high boredom threshold
that, i think, is saying something.
It seemed to come from the heart. They did not sound like empty words.
This guy means business. This guy is the business.
All these events took place yesterday. Before the American day was out he was
tackling the mess that is Guantanamo Bay.
He has nudged the ball and it is slowly beginning on it's first revolution.
Politically, he has Joe Biden beside him. I confess i know pretty much nothing about
the new V-P but, as much as with Obama, i wish him well as i wish the USA patience
and understanding.
Things will not happen overnight and, maybe just maybe, the more ignorant of it's fair
nation will let these men get on and may even come to appreciate their efforts.

Wine

Alco-pops... no thank you.

White Lightning... even bigger no thank you.

John Smiths Bitter... ychafy!

Glass of red?

Ribena when driving.

Wine if i'm not - preferably of the New World.

Now Anton Dvorak wrote a great piece (his New World Symphony). Think how much better it might've been if he'd been around to sample the delights of the Napa valley et al.

I have drunk some lovely french and italian and spanish reds but my heart lies with that produced from the USA and Australia. Now and again i venture into the territory of South African or South American. Chilean vineyards have a good rep. And i sampled a very tasty Argentinian rose last night.

I was at a dinner last night. Hence my considering what moves my tastebuds.

It was a BYO evening and, of the 6 adults at the table, five brought new world(4 red, 1 rose) wines.

Oxford Landing (merlot), Wolfblass Yellow Label (Cab Sauv), E & J Gallo x 2 (grapes not spotted) and the Argentinian (Mendoza).

A friend from another table entreated me to sample his french. "It's quite dry," he said as i sipped. Yikes!

It reinforced my lack of faith in the old world wines. Maybe i need to get some of that Cuvee from Citie Europe. Too drinkable really ;0)

It's not that i don't drink white it's that i prefer red. Europe seems to have a better choice of white than red. A nice Orvieto goes down very well with some tasty chicken. Having said that I am not one of those officiandos ( i'm not an officiando at all!) who believes that white meat and fish should be complimented with white. And red for red meat. Whatever works for your palette is the way to be.

Quite honestly, i believe there is no room for snobbery in alcohol.

You can the most expensive bubbly or the cheapest vino and it'll do the same thing to you if you imbibe too much. And the result could leave you with your head staring into a space that another part of your anatomy will see more often!

Alcohol. No respector of who or what you are. You abuse it and it will be the winner!

Cheers

[i dug this out 3 weeks after the event and i, subsequently, have a nice Orvieto lined up for drinking in my kitchen right now]